Again, Severus
by mezzo-muse
Summary: A mysterious stranger finds the Resurrection Stone in the Forbidden Forest, and decides to give someone a second chance. However, it becomes a second chance that is truly out of the ordinary, as Severus Snape finds himself in a seemingly alternate reality
1. Again

The night had settled upon the body of Severus Snape faster than that of falling asleep. And with this notion, he valued it privately.

"Look… look at me…" He had said to Harry Potter before he slipped away. His insides had slowly grown cold, as if from the waist up, he'd slipped into icy water.

Severus Snape had never really been afraid of Death. Somehow, even in life, it had always been a part of his past, present, and future. Severus had felt as if he'd always lived in the shadow of Death. He felt bound and enslaved most of his life, never had he felt truly free, until now.

They had been Lily's eyes, precisely her eyes. All he had wanted was to see her eyes one more time. And he had. He was done with this life. He could go.

But something nagged at the back of his mind. Something that felt uneasy and restless. Here, as he took his last breaths, blood pooling in the back of his throat, he suddenly had a vision. There was a young girl wandering through the wood, she seemed lost and began looking around at her surroundings. The scene blurred momentarily before the girl pulled her cloak more tightly around her and began walking deeper into the wood. She kept her hood up until she reached a small clearing where the canopy of trees gave way to soft sunlight. Pulling down the hood, bright red hair spilled out and a soft face appeared. The girl looked down at the ground, curious as she found something interesting. She fingered the ground for a moment before pocketing something small and dark. She walked a small distance, before settling down in the grass and pulled out the object.

Severus could not see what it was but saw that the young girl held the object in her hand before clutching it to her chest. She closed her eyes as lips began murmuring something but Severus could not hear. She couldn't be more than eight but she seemed to be conjuring magic as if she were already learned.

_Lily…. It must be Lily… _he thought as the girl continued her chant.

Severus felt as if he could only relish this last hallucination as he died. It was all he had, and it would be all that he ever had. But suddenly, the girl opened her eyes and stared Severus directly into his soul. His mind flipped and the scene began dissolving.

"Again…" The girl murmured as if at the end of a tunnel. "Again…"


	2. Rebirth

Chapter Two:

To Severus Snape, the space between life and death felt much like floating through a vast, unending ocean. His limbs felt light, as if they weren't even connected to him. His mind floating along with himself, unable to concentrate on a thought for long before it floated away from him. He was paralyzed and he soon came to realize that the only thing he could truly do, was wait.

Everything was black around him, which gave the impression that he couldn't actually see. His hearing seemed muffled, as if he were deep underwater. All he could hear was the muffled sound of a childish female voice calling to him.

"Again, Severus… Again."

What was this place that he resided now? Somewhere between time and space, he had drifted to an in-between. This was truly a hellish place to reside (or rather not reside). Would this ever end? To exist or not exist in a hellish place was an unending torment for a man who had lived a truly hellish life.

The life of Severus Snape had been one of sheer torture from beginning to end. However, there had been those few years where life had not been so dark, and for a small while, a light had shone.

_Please, just let it all end… _ He thought to himself. If he felt that if he had a body, he would be crying right now. But something had changed now. He felt something soft and prickly against his back. He was no longer floating through time and space, but had instead landed somewhere. Something was very bright and for a moment he couldn't open his eyes.

"Again, Severus?" Came a voice from somewhere above him.

When he was finally able to open his eyes, he saw an old tree above him swaying in a gentle breeze, and a very cross looking woman with fiery red hair, standing above him with her arms on her hips.

"Are you really out here again by yourself? What's the matter with you?"

Severus stumbled as he stood, it was as if he'd been adrift on a boat at sea for months and couldn't find his land legs. He felt as if he'd been clocked on the head frightfully hard. When his vision cleared he felt certainly dumbfounded.

"You… But I…" His voice sounded younger, and he felt slightly shorter. The woman eyed him with suspicion.

"What's the matter, Severus? You look as if you've seen a ghost."

Severus stumbled and held a hand to his head. He felt as if the ground were swaying beneath him. Any trace of dismay upon girl's face had vanished, for she now pulled him up with his arm and steadied him against her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, "I… I think I'm ill."

The woman said nothing but led Severus over to a tree stump and sat him down. She pulled away from him and he had to fight the urge not to pull her down beside him, just so he could touch her and reassure his mind that she was here, and she was real.

Suddenly, he surprised himself as tears filled his eyes and began falling down his cheeks.

"I can't believe it's you. I just…" He couldn't speak; sobs were wracking his body as he tried to find the words, thoughts he could spill out to her.

"Severus, did you have a bad dream? What was it?"

"No, I… Something horrible happened. I was killed. I can't remember how or why. I just remember you. I remember your face. You were gone too. You died."

There was a long pause as the woman shifted her expression from one of severity and confusion, to one of soft compliance.

"Severus whatever you dreamt was just a nightmare."

Severus sobbed much louder before trying to conceal his blubbering face.

"But it was you. It was you _Lily_…"

The woman's emerald eyes widened as she cupped Severus' face. It seemed as if something deep within her had been reached.

"Voldemort killed you. He killed you and James and left Harry. I looked after him Lily, I tried… But Dumbledore-"

"Dumbledore?" Interrupted Lily. She seemed profoundly puzzled.

Severus looked up into her eyes. She seemed oddly perplexed by the name.

"What an odd sort of name, Dumbledore. And Voldemort? I've never heard of such made up names. You're saying this Voldemort person killed me?"

Something inside Severus began to reel. How did she not remember this? She had been killed. She and James had been in the Order. They lived in the wizarding world and of course they would know who Lord Voldemort was. But as Severus began telling the details of how she had died, how she and James had been murdered and had left behind a son, Lily grew more and more perplexed. It was as if he were merely spinning this story out of control.

When he had finished, Lily dropped her head before running her hands through her hair. Severus wasn't so sure, but he thought he saw her conceal her face to wipe away a tear.

"These dreams," She said, wiping beneath her eye, "You speak of them as if they actually happened, in this wizarding world of sorts."

"It did happen, as I've told you Lily. And I've only come here on the most unusual circumstances and here you are…"

Lily stood suddenly, and tucked her red hair behind one of her ears. Severus guessed she could only be just twenty. She was exactly as he had remembered, except there was something missing, and it wasn't the ring that did not reside on her left ring finger.

How she appeared in this sunlight; the sun catching the strands of her hair, it made Severus forget to breath for just a moment.

"This world you dreamt of…" She said, finally speaking and startling Severus slightly. "Its as if you speak of…." She began to giggle softly.

"What?" He asked, his voice trembling."

Lily smiled, "Oh, Severus… As if there was such thing!"

"What do you mean?"

Lily tucked another strand behind her ear, "It's as if you're speaking of magic."


End file.
